Venice, Italy - Dogana da Mar Venice Atlas; Lexington, MA - Minuteman Monument

Dogana da Mar Venice Atlas.jpg

Title

Venice, Italy - Dogana da Mar Venice Atlas; Lexington, MA - Minuteman Monument

Catalog Entry

The cultural heritage point I chose for this project is the Dogana da Mar Venice Atlas, which is located in Venice, Italy. The statue is of two Atlas’s holding up the world on top of the Punta della Dogana, which is an art museum located around the Dogana da Mar building. This piece I thought has similar features to the Minuteman Statue located in Lexington, Massachusetts. They both are made of bronze. They both have symbolic meanings to something else. They both represent more than they are. They are representative to groups as a whole.

For the Atlas statue, it is representative of Venice as a whole and is a form of union strength with Atlas showing off how he can hold the entire world on his shoulders. On a top the golden globe that Atlas is holding is a goddess. The goddess is Fortune. The intended purpose for the goddess was to be a weather vane. It is also symbolic to show that you never know what life has in store for you and that you should always remember that fate can be unpredictable so be on your toes.

The Minuteman Statue is of a man named Captain John Parker. He was the leader of Lexington Military during 1775 during various battles that were located in Lexington and Concord. Cpt. Parker was represented by various models with one of them being a Medford native Arthur Mather, who was a cartoonist. The term “minuteman” was used to describe the military as a whole. It was meant to show respect to those who were the first responders during any threat that had occured.

The two statues are representatives of the groups and a sense of loyalty and resemblance to a group that is meaningful to the area in which they are located.

For the literary connection to them I thought that the "Star Spangled Banner" was an appropriate representation of being symbolic to a group. With the song being the national anthem it is already representative of the United States as a whole, putting all the people within the country into sixteen lines. The song was created from the War of 1812 when the British ships were being bombed and lighting up the sky. The song was created as a poem by Francis Scott being representative to the United States military just like the Minuteman Statue was created to show and represent in a physical way. The three works have the sense that community is important to the local area that they are a part of. The Star Spangled Banner was meant to have heart warming feel to those that are graced to hear within our nation and is all around different sports events within the states to show that we all are one represented by those that play. The Doganga da Mar Atlas is that physical form of showing the nation of Venice as a whole just like the Minuteman Statue for those that served in the military at the time with other volunteers also.

Bibliography

Alchin, Linda. “War of 1812 (Aka the 'Second War for Independence').” United States History for Kids, www.american-historama.org/1801-1828-evolution/star-spangled-banner-lyrics.htm. Accessed , 9 Jan. 2018.

“Dogana Da Mar.” Venice the Future, www.venicethefuture.com/schede/uk/132?aliusid=132. Accessed 4 May 2018

“Minuteman Statue.” Visit Lexington MA, www.tourlexington.us/attractions/pages/minuteman-statue.

Catalog Entry Author(s)

Steven Collins, Student, Fitchburg State University

Photographer(s)

Kisha G. Tracy

Citation

“Venice, Italy - Dogana da Mar Venice Atlas; Lexington, MA - Minuteman Monument,” Cultural Heritage through Image, accessed March 29, 2024, https://culturalheritagethroughimage.omeka.net/items/show/44.

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